MOBILE SHOP I Gus' Mobile Shop. Isle of Harris, Outer Hebrides, Scotland

A moving feast on a small Scottish island

gus mobile shop white van isle of harris outer hebrides

Angus ‘Gus’ MacLean has just received a very well deserved British Empire Medal, having served his community since the 22nd January 1990. Gus runs the one and only mobile shop on the remote Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The hard evidence for his longevity being the two discarded vans still parked outside his storage unit. What might seem like island lassitude is actually island pragmatism. There are less abandoned vehicles outside people’s homes these days but the ones there are will often be used for spare parts or maybe a spot of light storage.

On the west coast of Harris the sweeping sandy bays are the colour of Gus’ finest Ambrosia Custard. The east side is liberally scattered with rock and the road is the thinest line of tarmac, undulating around small bays with single fishing boats at anchor. This is one of the most beautiful places in the UK and there’s something inescapably bucolic about seeing Gus’ van trundling around the main loop road of the island. It brings to mind Postman Pat who must rival Gus for personal service, his regular deliveries providing humanity as well as hummus (disclaimer – he might not sell hummus). As the thread of community running around the island, his services were all the more vital during the early months of Covid, resulting in the BEM. He often does 12 hour days and works 6 days a week but for him, ‘it’s a way of life’.

The heyday for mobile shops was the 1960s to the 1980s but as supermarkets expanded their tentacles and car ownership increased, they gradually disappeared along with their elderly owners. The Isle of Harris has a mobile bank and mobile libraries are still to be seen here and elsewhere in the Scottish Highlands. They are the antithesis of the corporate retail giant. I guess we all need both but you can only really depend on one in a crisis. One night, down the pub with a couple of mates, they hit upon his strapline with it’s nice double meaning: ‘Serves U Right’. You’d never get that approved by a supermarket board of directors. He hopes to still be doing the rounds 10 years from now but with admirable modesty he says ‘you are only as good as your last week’.

The heyday for mobile shops was the 1960’s to the 1980’s but as supermarkets expanded their tentacles and car ownership increased, they gradually disappeared along with their elderly owners. The Isle of Harris has a mobile bank and mobile libraries are still to be seen here and elsewhere in the Scottish Highlands. They are the antithesis of the corporate retail giant. I guess we all need both but you can only really depend on one in a crisis. One night, down the pub with a couple of mates, they hit upon his strapline with it’s nice double meaning: ‘Serves U Right’. You’d never get that approved by a supermarket board of directors. He hopes to still be doing the rounds 10 years from now but with admirable modesty he says ‘you are only as good as your last week’.